UFCThe Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts organization, recognized as the largest MMA promotion in the world. The UFC is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada and is owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC. This promotion is responsible for solidifying the sport's postion in the history-books.
UFC is currently undergoing a remarkable surge in popularity, along with greater mainstream media coverage. UFC programming can now be seen on FOX, FX, and FUEL TV in the United States, as well as in 35 other countries worldwide.

Daniel Cormier might get next shot at Jon Jones' title despite no wins at 205 and UFC

My Christmas wish might come into fruition!

Chael Sonnen is somehow the #1 contender at light heavyweight, Machida and Henderson were fighting to be #1 contender until Gustafsson beat Rua to earn the honor. But now Dana White says Daniel Cormier might somehow be next for Jon Jones.

The UFC has been quickly moving away from any sort of sensible, easy-to-follow methodology and instead has moved into "whoever Dana White and Co. like today. In no division is this on display quite like light heavyweight.

Dan Henderson was the number one contender, set to fight Jon Jones only to injure his knee and have to pull out of the bout. Now it's Chael Sonnen who will be coaching The Ultimate Fighter against Jones and fighting him for the title in a weight class he hasn't fought in for several years after losing two shots at the middleweight title. Sonnen got the fight because he's the only guy that wanted it -- when it was offered on three days notice, not when it came with a long, full training camp.

Henderson was scheduled for a fight against Lyoto Machida in what was supposed to be a number one contender fight but then the UFC declared that Alexander Gustafsson against Shogun Rua was the actual number one contender fight. After Gustafsson won that bout it became a situation where now Gustafsson might fight Machida if Henderson can't because of the knee injury.

But NOW Dana is throwing out a new name as a potential number one contender:

"[Cormier] is going to bring a lot of excitement to the heavyweight or light heavyweight division," White said following Saturday night's UFC 155 event in Las Vegas. "And he could be next in line to fight (Jon) Jones."

Cormier is a great fighter and the prospect of him fighting Jones is appealing on paper, my objection has absolutely nothing to do with DC's skills. But we've never seen the guy fight at light heavyweight. We don't know anything about how his body would handle cutting the extra weight, something that is more of a factor with Daniel than most fighters considering his incident at the 2008 Olympics where his weight cut led to kidney failure.

But more than just "does Cormier deserve the fight?" is the issue of the UFC effectively ruining their ability to promote number one contender fights.

Why should anyone care when a fight is billed as a number one contender fight? The UFC has used it as a selling point for fights on Fox shows, Gustafsson vs. Rua being a solid example of that. While I understand the idea of Gustafsson not wanting to sit on the shelf until whenever Jones is ready after he humiliates Sonnen, the plan is to get eyes that don't normally watch your product on the Fox shows and hook them.

Gustafsson was impressive against Rua, but anyone who thought "oh man, I might have to actually buy a PPV to see him fight for the title" might now not get that fight. And it's happening over and over these days as the UFC loses its identity.

All Dana said was "And he could be next in line to fight (Jon) Jones." That's not really a definitive statement so let's chill out before jumping to conclusions.
IF Cormier does get an instant title shot, then that will simply be another straw in a recent streak of pathetic moves by Dana White which have damaged the UFC's reputation. The UFC is going downhill, and is quickly going down the same path as boxing.

Everybody has been talking about it. I think they'll place em against someone like Thiago Silva, Rashad maybe even, or Shogun. If he wins which he should then he gets the shot. Right now the LHW division has new rising contenders.

1.) Chael
2.) Gustaf
3.) Hendo or Lyoto
4.) Cormier
5.) Glover

Even if they stuck Cormier in there as an injury replacement for the fighters above em I don't think anybody would complain. He is the SF champ and he beat two very legitimate HW fighters.

Bring it on!

__________________
Marcus Aurelius: Tell me again, Maximus, why are we here?
Maximus: For the glory of the Empire, sire.

Chael's getting the crack at the belt for good reason. He's marketable and he said yes and always says yes. But after that is over, I predict right now that if Hendo can eith A. finish Machida, or B. fight Machida like he did Shogun for 3 rounds, Dan will get the next shot @ 205. A win over Machida w/o a doubt, at least IMO, puts Dan as the true number 1 contender. And oh God do I want that fight to happen so bad by the end of 2013. I know it sounds crazy, but Dan is the most dangerous opponent for Jon Jones right now.

That all being said, I do get the point was how Dana kinda jumps over guys as far as title shots go. Do I mind that? Not really, honestly, unless its one of my guys getting skipped over. Kinda keeps things exciting.

As for Cormier, I think guys coming from SF holding a belt should fight the champ in their weightclass to make the winner "Undisputed" champion, ya know? Kinda like they did with Hendo. Hendo today woulda killed Rampage. But Cormier's a real legitimate threat. 1 win in the UFC @ any weight class and I wont bitch a title shot in any weight class.

Not going to get upset over DC getting the shot. I don't remember a big uproar with Nick getting an immediate shot when he came over from SF. It was at least in his weight class, but still I would like to see DC fight a top 10 guy first. Although it worked out that Nick had to fight before his title shot, albeit interim, that was not the original plan.